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Bradley got death threats after win against Pacquiao

Jon Saraceno, USA TODAY Sports
4:17 p.m. EST March 5, 2013

Undefeated WBO welterweight champion Timothy Bradley Jr., shown during a recent media day, said he received death threats in the aftermath of his win agains Manny Pacquiao last June.(Photo: Chris Farina, Top Rank)

Story Highlights

Timothy Bradley defeated Manny Pacquiao last June to take welterweight title

The victory was highly controversial and Bradley received death threats

Bradley will defend his WBO title March 16 vs. Ruslan Provodnikov on HBO

Welterweight champion Timothy Bradley Jr. said Tuesday he received multiple death threats in the aftermath of snatching Manny Pacquiao's title belt with a widely disputed 12-round upset decision last June in Las Vegas.

In response to a question from USA TODAY Sports on a conference call, Bradley, obviously still agitated by his skeptics and critics, said he did not report the intimidation attempts, which he said came via mail and phone calls.

"I didn't get any credit after the Pacquiao fight whatsoever,'' Bradley said. "People talked about me and my style, how boring (it is). Some people talked about my wife, talked about my kids. I've had some people send me death threats because I won. I had a lot of people say I should give the belt back.''

Bradley (29-0, 12 KOs) will make the first defense of his 147-pound crown March 16 against rugged Russian contender Ruslan Provodnikov (22-1, 15 KOs) of Siberia. The scheduled 12-rounder will be televised by HBO from The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.

Bradley badly injured an ankle and both feet during the Pacquiao fight, and virtually every ringside observer believed he lost the fight to the popular Filipino. Bradley was delivered to the post-fight news conference in a wheelchair.

The 29-year-old fighter said Tuesday that he "didn't really take (the death threats) seriously at all,'' because, as he said, "People (were) mad'' at the decision.

"When I'm in my house, can't nobody mess with me,'' Bradley said.

But he said, "I just don't want them to come to my house and try to take me out. I don't think that would ever happen but you never know.''